Newz Forum: BASEBALL: More stars involved in taking steriods

San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, New York Yankees stars Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield and three other major league baseball players received steroids from a Burlingame nutritional supplement lab, federal investigators were told.The baseball stars allegedly got the illegal performance-enhancing drugs from the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative through Greg Anderson, Bonds' personal weight trainer and longtime friend, according to information furnished the government and shared with The Chronicle.

In addition to Bonds, Giambi and Sheffield, the other baseball players said to have received steroids from BALCO via Anderson were two former Giants, outfielder Marvin Benard and catcher Benito Santiago, and a former A's second baseman, Randy Velarde.Oakland Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski also was said to have received performance-enhancing drugs.

Anderson allegedly obtained a so-called designer steroid known as "the clear" and a testosterone-based steroid known as "the cream" from BALCO and supplied the substances to all six baseball players, the government was told. In addition, Bonds was said to have received human growth hormone, a powerful substance that legally cannot be distributed without a prescription, investigators were told.

Agents obtained the information about the baseball players and illegal drugs last September during a probe that resulted in the indictment of Anderson, BALCO owner Victor Conte and two other Bay Area men on steroid conspiracy charges.

The information shared with The Chronicle did not explicitly state that the athletes had used the drugs they were said to have obtained. Bonds, who is baseball's single-season home-run king, and Giambi, who won the American League Most Valuable Player award when he was with the Oakland Athletics, have publicly denied using steroids. So has Sheffield. All three declined to discuss the matter Monday.

Last week, attorneys for Anderson and Conte quoted their clients as saying Bonds had never used illegal drugs.

The information about Bonds provided to The Chronicle was corroborated by a source familiar with Anderson. The source told The Chronicle that the weight trainer had obtained steroids and human growth hormone for Bonds dating back to the 2001 season. That was the year the Giants outfielder broke baseball's storied single-season record for home runs -- hitting 73.




[Edited on 3/2/2004 by TRD]

This doesn't surprise me,but it's not a definate that they took them.I'm guessing that we will find out soon enough though,they don't seem to be wanting to let this one die out and fade away.

i just want to know how they get so big look at them ten years ago i might be wrong but i don't believe them i know it is wrong to judge but the seem to be on the defencive and that is why i question them

Originally posted by cards1
i just want to know how they get so big look at them ten years ago i might be wrong but i don't believe them i know it is wrong to judge but the seem to be on the defencive and that is why i question them

Totally agree you don't get that big naturally,unless the goverment are putting something in the water.

Jim Palmer has questions about Brady
more people involved

Anderson, his 50 homers in 1996 and steroids, but the Hall of Fame pitcher couldn't come up with definitive answers when pinned down about his suspicions.

In an interview broadcast on a Baltimore radio station Sunday, Palmer said that Anderson's Orioles-record 50-homer output might have been tainted by steroid use. Anderson's previous best was 21 homers in 1992 and his subsequent best was 24 in 1999. He hit 16 and 18 the seasons before and after he hit his 50.

"I like Brady, and it doesn't mean he's a bad guy because he took steroids," Palmer said in the interview, which was taped Saturday. "But I'm sure he wanted to enhance his performance.

"I don't know how he hit 29 more homers that year," said Palmer, who announces on Orioles telecasts. "And he hit 31 more on the road that year, so it's not like he took advantage of Camden Yards."


Palmer's quotes appeared in The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday. He was interviewed by radio station 98 Rock.


In the interview, Palmer also questioned Barry Bonds' performance in breaking Mark McGwire's single-season home run record in 2001, noting that his increased size and power could have come from an illegal source.

Asked Monday by The Sun to explain himself, Palmer said, "I don't know if Brady took steroids. How would I know? But he did go from [16] home runs to 50.

"When Bonds goes from 49 to 73, you just wonder," Palmer told the newspaper. "You're trying to have a level playing field and maintain the integrity of the game. I'm sure it was a great year for Brady, and it was a great year when Bonds broke McGwire's record, but you just wonder."

Palmer said he didn't mean to indict Anderson.

"It was a general comment on the state of the game," Palmer said to The Sun. "They need to deal with it, whether it's Congress or the commissioner and the players union, they're going to have to come up with something.

"I'm just saying it's a concern when you have aberrations in people's performances," Palmer said. "I know how hard Brady worked to be a good player. But who knows? You just don't know, and that's the fault of baseball, not Brady."